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(1) It is said that if the decretive will of God also determined the entrance of sin into the world,
God thereby becomes the author of sin and really wills something that is contrary to His moral
perfections. Arminians, to escape the difficulty, make the will of God to permit sin dependent
on His foreknowledge of the course which man would choose. Reformed theologians, while
maintaining on the basis of such passages as Acts 2:23; 3:8; etc., that God’s decretive will also
includes the sinful deeds of man, are always careful to point out that this must be conceived in
such a way that God does not become the author of sin. They frankly admit that they cannot
solve the difficulty, but at the same time make some valuable distinctions that prove helpful.
Most of them insist on it that God’s will with respect to sin is simply a will to permit sin and not
a will to effectuate it, as He does the moral good. This terminology is certainly permissible,
provided it is understood correctly. It should be borne in mind that God’s will to permit sin
carries certainty with it. Others call attention to the fact that, while the terms “will” or “to will”
may include the idea of complacency or delight, they sometimes point to a simple
determination of the will; and that therefore the will of God to permit sin need not imply that
He takes delight or pleasure in sin.
(2) Again, it is said that the decretive and preceptive will of God are often contradictory. His
decretive will includes many things which He forbids in His preceptive will, and excludes many
things which He commands in His preceptive will, cf. Gen. 22; Ex. 4:21-23; II Kings 20:1-7; Acts
2:23. Yet it is of great importance to maintain both the decretive and the preceptive will, but
with the definite understanding that, while they appear to us as distinct, they are yet
fundamentally one in God. Though a perfectly satisfactory solution of the difficulty is out of the
question for the present, it is possible to make some approaches to a solution. When we speak
of the decretive and the preceptive will of God, we use the word “will” in two different senses.
By the former God has determined what He will do or what shall come to pass; in the latter He
reveals to us what we are in duty bound to do.[Cf. Bavinck, Geref. Dogm. II, pp. 246 ff.; Dabney,
Syst. and Polem. Theol., p. 162] At the same time we should remember that the moral law, the
rule of our life, is also in a sense the embodiment of the will of God. It is an expression of His
holy nature and of what this naturally requires of all moral creatures. Hence another remark
must be added to the preceding. The decretive and preceptive will of God do not conflict in the
sense that in the former He does, and according to the latter He does not, take pleasure in sin;
nor in the sense that according to the former He does not, and according to the latter He does,
will the salvation of every individual with a positive volition. Even according to the decretive will
God takes no pleasure in sin; and even according to the preceptive will He does not will the
salvation of every individual with a positive volition.
2. THE SOVEREIGN POWER OF GOD.
The sovereignty of God finds expression, not only in the
divine will, but also in the omnipotence of God or the power to execute His will. Power in God